Summary
About 250 acres at Hansi and Dhana in Hisar district were acquired in 2005 for residential and commercial sectors. The Collector awarded Rs 8 to 12 lakh per acre, and in 2014 the Reference Court fixed Rs 1,000 per square yard. The State accepted that award; only the landowners appealed. After two remands, the Reference Court assessed Rs 750, and the High Court allowed the State's appeals and restored the Collector's award. The Supreme Court partly allowed the landowners' appeals. The State never challenged the 2014 award, which had become final against it, and the remand was only to examine the landowners' sale deeds for enhancement. Compensation therefore could not fall below Rs 1,000 per square yard. Enhancement beyond that was refused because the landowners' sale deeds were remote in time, small in area or inconsistent in price.
Issues
- Whether compensation could be reduced below the Reference Court's award of Rs 1,000 per square yard that the State had never challenged.
- Whether the landowners' sale deeds justified enhancement beyond Rs 1,000 per square yard.
Provisions considered
- Sections 4 and 11, Land Acquisition Act, 1894The Collector's award under Section 11 could not be restored below the Reference Court's determination that had become final against the State; sale deeds remote from the Section 4 notification date were not reliable for enhancement. (¶¶ 2, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Held
- Once the State accepted the Reference Court's 2014 award of Rs 1,000 per square yard, and the remand was only to consider the landowners' sale deeds for enhancement, the landowners were entitled to at least that amount; the High Court erred in restoring the Collector's award. (¶¶ 5, 6, 8)
- Sale deeds that were years older than the Section 4 notification, or later, or concerned small plots at varying prices, were not a safe basis for enhancement beyond Rs 1,000 per square yard. (¶ 7)
Result
Appeals partly allowed; the High Court's judgment restoring the Collector's awards set aside and compensation fixed at Rs 1,000 per square yard; no costs.